The personal blog of Peter Lee a.k.a. "China Hand"... Life is a comedy to those who think, a tragedy to those who feel, and an open book to those who read. You are welcome to contact China Matters at the address chinamatters --a-- prlee.org or follow me on twitter @chinahand.

Wednesday, April 12, 2017

How Sick Is the Dalai Lama?

I expect the PRC government has a team of spooks and doctors
whose main job is to monitor the Dalai Lama’s public appearances for
indications concerning his health.The
Dalai Lama’s April 8 visit to Tawang probably gave them something to chew on,
because he didn’t look that good to me.

He was mentally acute and spirited, but whenever he walked
he was supported by two monks.

Watching him struggle after he got up from the platform
after two hours of religious teaching at Tawang makes me think there’s more
going on than religious deference with the monk escort.

At the 2:33:00 minute point in this video you can see the
Dalai Lama wrap up his talk, tuck his meds away in his little carry bag, and
exit with some effort.

Last year the Dalai Lama received treatment at the Mayo Clinic for a month, presumably related to his prostate condition which I’m
guessing is more like prostate cancer.It looks to me like his physical condition had deteriorated.

Talking about the Dalai Lama’s health is an unwelcome
subject for the Tibetan diaspora and government in exile, since the CCP
strategy is clearly to drag out any engagement until the Dalai Lama passes on,
and deal with a position of strength in any talks with his successor.

The Dalai Lama has declared he’s going to live to 90 (he’s
now 82), when he'll finalize the succession issue.Maybe he’s got some
supernatural insight, but you have to wonder.

The Dalai Lama’s successor looks to be an “emanation” chosen
during the Dalai Lama’s lifetime to pre-empt Chinese meddling.Although there’s a possibility of an upgrade
to “reincarnation” after the current Dalai Lama’s death, I doubt the successor
will carry anywhere near the current Dalai Lama’s prestige and authority.

If, as is bruited about, the Dalai Lama chooses the Karmapa
of the Karma Kagyu lineage as his successor, the new Dalai Lama’s clout will
also be undercut by the fact that he’s not of the Gelugpa lineage that has
dominated Tibetan Buddhist religion and politics for generations.The Karmapa had some of the sheen taken off
him by an ugly controversy in which it was claimed he was a pretender and a
Chinese Communist mole.

The rough edges have been smoothed off the Karmapa
controversy by the death of the alternate claimant’s main champion, Shamar
Rinpoche, and a change in attitude by the previously suspicious Indian
government and intelligence service.On
a broader stage, there’s a move to redefine Tibetan Buddhism as an ecumenical
movement, rather than a congeries of independent-minded and ferociously contentious
and occasionally murderous monasteries and religious leaders.

One sign of this was the festooning of Tawang with Buddhist
flags for the Dalai Lama’s visit.The
Buddhist flag I am referring to is not the traditional prayer flag but the
colorful stripy thing, which is actually a relatively recent innovation.It was announced in Sri Lanka in 1885 with
input from an American Buddhist (and Blavatsky Theosophist) enthusiast, Colonel
Henry Steele Olcott and is supposed to symbolize the shared essential beliefs
and potential for unity for a global Buddhist movement that transcends
different traditions and teachings.

As a visual aid:

Traditional Tibetan Buddhist prayer flags at Tawang:

“Buddhist flag” at Tawang:

Buddhist, Tibetan, and Indian flags festooning the exterior
of the Tawang monastery on the occasion of the Dalai Lama’s visit, which presumably
hacked off the PRC no end:

A sign that the “all Buddhists are brothers and sisters”
approach is working is the flourishing of the ecumenically oriented Tibetan Buddhist
academy at Larung Gar in Sichuan inside the PRC.

Larung Gar was founded in 1980 by a rinpoche of the Nyingma
lineage, but its curriculum also incorporates Gelugpa and other teachings.Perhaps its promise as a unifying,
trans-lineage institution for Tibetan Buddhists—and one less susceptible to the
divide-and-conquer strategy China has employed for centuries, most
conspicuously in the case of its promotion of the Panchen Lama-- is why the PRC
government restricts Larung Gar operations and is now tearing down parts of the
immense favela of student housing that has grown up around the academy.

Here’s my most recent video for Newsbud, where I discuss the
Dalai Lama’s visit to Tawang (and Xi Jinping’s visit to Mar a Lago!) and
conclude that the next Dalai Lama will probably turn out to be more of brand
ambassador for Tibetan Buddhism, a Dalai Lama Lite, rather than a galvanizing
figure like the 14th Dalai Lama.

In my video, I mis-state the dessert that witnessed Donald Trump's announcement to Xi Jinping that he was pasting Syria with cruise missiles as "chocolate sorbet". It was actually "the most beautiful piece of chocolate cake."

6 comments:

"the CCP strategy is clearly to drag out any engagement until the Dalai Lama passes on, and deal with a position of strength in any talks with his successor."

Far from trying to drag out their engagement, the CCP have made at least two substantive offers for the DL to return to live in the Potala Palace. The DL fled rather than honor the terms of the first offer–freeing the slaves and kicking out the MI6 and CIA agents– and, in the second case, demanded that he be given dominion over two other Chinese provinces.

He has proven all his life to be a tool of other, powerful and unscrupulous people and to care little for the people of Tibet.

From the perspective of the support of American Buddhists, who I'm guessing contribute a significant amount of money to Tibetan Buddhism Inc., it might be a good idea to have a Kagyu or Nyingma leading the bunch. The Kagyu are popular because of the legacy of Chogyam Trungpa and his Shambhala organization, and I've noticed that the Nyingma lineage is popular with a lot of hippie types who appreciate the long hair and the enthusiasm for alcohol consumption. Tibetan Buddhism in the West has essentially positioned itself as the heir to the Sixties, and virtually every Western Buddhist takes refuge in the dogmas of modern liberalism above and prior to their refuge in the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha. I find this repulsive myself, but it's probably a good business model.

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